Earthbound and Down
by Ally Smith
Summary: The sound of your laugh has a ring of weariness. The night has a thousand eyes and your smile of heaviness. I've always asked for nothing but you've found it hard to see, so I gathered all I had and laid it down before your feet. I gathered all I had. Bones/OC
1. The Captain and the Hourglass

**Preface**

She'd been seven years old when the USS Excalibur crash landed in a field behind the Stafford family home. The sound of metal crunching into the ground and the accompanying blast that shook the place to its foundations had woken all of the sleeping family members inside. She remembered her mother screaming as she raced from room to room to make sure everyone was okay, her father barrelling into bedrooms to get her oldest brothers, their pets racing up and down the hallways making noise and tripping people. The place looked like it had been hit by an earthquake.

Her mom had tried to keep her and her youngest brother Alexander at her side while the rest of the family went to explore; her struggles had almost ripped her nightgown at the neckline before Ruth had given up and let them both run to where Nicholas Stafford was trying to get closer to the wreckage in attempt to see if anyone had made it.

She and her four siblings were half watching him, half staring up at the massive ship in awe. Things like this didn't happen in their tiny town, it was exciting. In their silence neighbours from nearby began turning up to aid their father; the children found themselves pushed back from the ship.

Her oldest sibling Elijah broke their stunned silence "I'm gonna fly one of these things one day" he'd told them confidently "soon as I'm old enough I'm gonna go to the academy"

"There'll be a hell more crashes if you're behind the wheel, I barely like getting in the truck with you behind the wheel" the second oldest Benjamin had joked. It had started a silly argument that she'd tuned out of the second the first person emerged from inside the ship, she clutched the sides of her nightgown – one of her brothers hand-me-down t-shirts – as she watched; he was clinging to her father, his gold shirt stained red with blood from a wound that wasn't visible but he was alive, mumbling to Nicholas as he helped him into the arms of a neighbour.

She'd taken off at that point, rushing towards the man and ignoring her brothers as they shouted her name loudly. She barrelled through the crowd until she found a small gap and popped out right at his side; he was grimacing in pain, covered in dirt and the blood was still bubbling up from the wound beneath his shirt. She wasn't brave enough to say anything so stood at the side of his stretcher staring at him; she wasn't sure what she felt as she looked at him; twenty years on the feeling still remained a mystery.

When he turned to readjust himself he finally spotted her, despite everything he forced a shaky smile and nodded at her; he cleared his throat, turned away to spit a mouthful of blood onto the ground then turned back – he smiled again before speaking – "what's your name kid?" he asked in a gruff, strained whisper

"Michaela, my brothers call me Mickey" she kept her voice soft, she didn't want to startle him or draw any attention to herself; she didn't want to get into trouble for bothering him. As he gathered the energy to speak again she added "you can call me Micky if you want".

He smiled then coughed again, turning away to spit the blood out before nodding slowly again.

"Thanks Mickey, I'm Captain Telford. You can call me Tate" – he'd taken a few deep, unsteady breaths after that – "Is this your house Mickey?" she'd nodded "I'm sorry I nearly crushed it" he tried to laugh along with her but began choking and almost rolled from the stretcher when he'd turned to spit "Can I ask you to do something for me Mickey?" he was shaking violently, his entire body vibrating in place. Mickey nodded and moved closer but not close enough that her toes would be in the bloody grass beneath him.

Other survivors began to arrive, some of them lying on stretchers, most on the grass when the beds ran out. Mickey took a moment to look around before putting her attention back on Tate who was staring at her intently. The Captain took another shaky breath "Can you hold my hand?" he forced his fingers open so his open palm was facing upwards next to him; Mickey looked from his hand to his face a few times before sitting her tiny hand on top of his. He'd closed his fingers around it tightly; she still remembered how tightly he'd held on, clutching to her like she was his lifeline as he began crying. He lifted their hands to rest against his chest, she could feel his heartbeat through his hand; it was soft and didn't have a pattern the way hers did. He blinked a few times "I know grown-ups are supposed to be brave but I'm feeling pretty scared right now" he confessed, he looked to her and tried to blink his tears away "You're brave though Mickey, brave enough to be the Captain of a ship like this".

His grip tightened after that, her hand was locked against his chest as he began convulsing and when a cough spurted blood into the air she'd let out a frightened scream. It caught the attention of people around her and she was torn out away from Tate, his grip on her arm held until she was far enough away and she was left with a stinging red mark that she rubbed as Zachary pulled her against his chest. Her crossed his arms across her chest to keep her in place until Benjamin appeared next to him and took her into his arms, he lifted her even though he repeatedly told her she was too big to be carried; he hugged her close, tucking her head under into the crook of his neck in an attempt to shield her.

She saw it though; saw the moment the doctor gave up on Captain Tate and they moved away from his dead body. It was the first dead body she'd ever seen; she couldn't stop the tears then even if she didn't fully understand what was going on.

Benjamin turned and began walking back towards the house; they passed their mother who began to follow but stopped quickly and wrapped her arm around Zackary's shoulder pulling him into her side. The fire began to fade and the shouts began to become background noise the closer they got to the backdoor.

"Benny?" she asked softly when she was sure it was just the two of them, he hummed softly in response "Captain Tate said I could be a captain, do you think he was right?"

"Think you could do whatever the hell you want Mick" he sighed quietly as he reached for the door handle "try and sleep tonight. Starfleet will still be there tomorrow".


	2. Dry Off Your Cheeks

Mickey let out a shaky breath as she ran her index fingers beneath watery eyes, she shuddered and let her hands drop back down to rest in her lap; she locked her fingers together and willed herself to stop crying even though she really, really wanted to cry. After a few seconds of silence filled with sniffles, there was a soft knock against the frame of her slightly open door; Benjamin's hand slid through the gap and he waved before gripping the wood and pushing it open enough to fit the top half of his body inside.

"Any chance I can come in?" he asked softly, Mickey nodded and he let himself in fully. He closed the door over behind him quietly, then turned to face her; he leant back against the door with his arms folded across his chest "I ain't gonna snap at you Mickey" he began – there was an edge to his tone that she didn't care for but she kept her mouth shut and let him continue – "I think you could have told us a better way instead of dropping a bomb on us over dinner like it was the most casual thing in the world" he sighed when he her head drooped "mama's crying, says dinners ruined and daddy's tryin' to calm her down-"

"That supposed to make me feel better?" her head shot up again and she snapped at him "Because let me tell you that it don't, and I already feel bad enough so maybe you should just go back downstairs and help daddy calm down mama" Mickey pointed to the door as she pushed herself up onto her feet "Go on" she motioned to the door "get out!"

"Just shut up for a second Michaela, how would you have felt if one of us turned around and told everyone we was leaving to go off to the city on the other side of the country and train up to be some sort of space travelling solider? You're needed here" he took a step towards her as he pointed at the floor animatedly

"Space travelling soldier?" she muttered under her breath "you know exactly what happens at Starfleet or are you choosin' to ignore that Elijah's been signed up since he was younger than me? I've wanted this for just as long as he did before he left, but I stuck around to help out because mama's been sick. She's doin' better and I'm tired of waitin' Benny. I need to get out of here or I'll go mad"

"You're actin' like a child. Twenty three years old an' throwin' a temper tantrum because you ain't getting' your way-"

"I am getting my way! I'm goin'!" she exploded loudly, swinging her arms around as she hopped angrily on the spot "I'm askin' you to understand. I'll talk to mama and daddy before I go anyway, but I'm goin' because I need to do this for me. Can't I just have this one thing?"

Benjamin fell silent; he took a few steps back until he was against the door again and lifted his thumb to his mouth to chew on the nail. They stared at each other, Mickey using her eyes to silently plead with him to accept her leaving. He cleared his throat and dropped his hand to speak "There nothing I can say to make you stay?" she shook her head and he sighed again "come on then, we're gonna go talk to the folks, maybe daddy's got the situation sorted". Benjamin stepped away from the door, nodding his head towards the hall as he pulled it open. He let Mickey slip past first and followed her down to the staircase.

She stopped a few steps down and looked out at the scene; her mama was still crying into her napkin, her daddy was still stood at her side with an arm around her shoulders while his free hand ran down his face and down his long grey beard. Benjamin's wife Nicolette was trying to keep their two children entertained, while Zackary and Alexander were still lounging in their seats at the table. Zack was the first to notice them and cleared his throat loud enough to catch the attention of everyone nearby; her heart broke a little more when Ruth burst into a fresh bout of tears at the sight of her.

She'd forgotten that Benny was stood behind her until he muttered a soft "C'mon, downstairs" and pushed at her shoulder until she moved. When her feet hit the floor Ruth got to her feet and pushed Nicolas away from her.

She began to ramble - "Did you talk her out of it Benny? Tell me you talked her out of it – Michaela you can't go, I won't let you".

"Mama!" Benjamin called loudly as he made his way towards her, Mickey stumbled when he reached out and grabbed her elbow to bring her with him "mama, I can't tell you nothin' if you don't stop cryin'!" – Ruth began to get more hysterical and Mickey found herself bumped to the side when her daddy stormed forward and pulled his wife back – his face twisted in anger as he did.

"WOMAN, YOU BEST SIT YOUR ASS DOWN AND LET THE BOY BREATHE. YOU AIN'T MAKIN' NO SENSE CRYIN' LIKE THIS" he roared angrily and the room fell silent, Ruth looked at him with watery eyes then moved back to her chair. He spun to face Mickey and she felt panic rising in her chest, it wasn't often her daddy raised his voice – not since he hit sixty anyway – so when he did it meant shit had just gone too far, he pointed at her then pointed to an empty dinner chair; he didn't have to say a damn word, she knew to put her ass in that chair.

"We are gonna discuss this like the adults we are!" he told them heatedly as his eyes scanned the room, Alexander and Zack began to push their chairs out to get up but both stopped when his eyes snapped to them "where you goin' boys? You got a say in this too, so put your asses back in those seats before I put 'em there myself".

When the only sound was his heavy breathing and the quiet chatter between Nicolette and the kids, he moved to his own chair and dropped down. He pinched his beard again as he leant back "who wants to go first?" no one made a move to speak so he huffed loudly "no one? Then I guess I'm goin' first"

"Girl, you coulda broke the news you was leaving about a thousand other ways than just layin' on us over dinner, you made your mama cry and I ain't about to sit here let that go unpunished – I don't give a shit if you're twenty three or fifty three – what you did ain't gonna fly" he pointed at her and it was the day she burnt her hand on a burnt out engine part fifteen years beforehand all over again, he had a way of making her feel two feet tall and her eyes began to water "don't you dare start cryin', I just got your mama shut up. Shoulda told us you were even applying to Starfleet girl, woulda gave us time to adjust to the idea – now we got a week to wrap our heads around you bein' gone for months. Remember how little we saw Elijah when he signed up? Remember?" she nodded "now we gotta go through that all over again with our only daughter. You got anythin' to say to me and your mama?"

Mickey sniffled a few times before nodding "I'm sorry I left it so late to tell you I was leaving, but I wasn't sure how to tell you guys. I remember Elijah goin' an' I remember what it did to everyone, I didn't want to do that again and then it was gettin' later an' later an'…" she trailed off and gathered herself a little "I'm goin' though, I've wanted this since the day that ship crash landed in the back yard and there's nothin' you or anyone else can say that'll make me stay put"

He held up a hand to stop her from speaking and muttered gruffly "Hang on just a tick, no one said nothin' about not lettin' you go" his gaze shot to Ruth before she could make a sound then back to Mickey "you a grow ass woman, you wanna go do what your brother do then you do it and me and your mama will be damn proud of what you achieve. You don't seem to understand what it is that's pissed us off Michaela, you goin' ain't the problem, the fact you didn't give us but a weeks warnin'? Now that's somethin' I ain't okay with"

Mickey wasn't sure what to say back so opted for staying quiet. In all honesty the entire situation had blown way out of control. Maybe she had dropped the news of her departure at the wrong time; but she was sure they would rather that than the alternative of her grabbing her bags and taking off one morning. She was just smart enough to know not to say that though.

Silently she let her eyes run across the room again, no one was looking at her anymore – they all seemed to be wallowing in the tension. She noticed the over turned glasses on the dinner table and itched to reach other and sort them just to do something. Nicolas sighed, she looked at him and they head each other's gaze. Again he ran his hand down his beard before sitting on the table "girl, you best get to cleaning this mess us right now and if I hear so much as a peep out of you-" he cut himself off with a quick shake of the head "just get to it".

He pushed himself out of his seat with a low grumble, and Mickey followed suit quickly – getting to her feet and grabbing at the plates closest to her. Her brothers pushed their seats back and got up silently, they both sent her sympathetic looks as they passed her but headed over to the sofa's to join the rest of the family.

She stopped for a moment, watching the rest of the family as they sat together; her mama still crying, her daddy still mad, her brothers and sister in law trying to pretend that nothing had happened. She let out a quiet sigh and reached for an over turned wine glass.


End file.
